Staff profile

Paolo Forlin is a medieval archaeologist mainly interested in landscape archaeology, environmental archaeology and archaeoseismology in Europe.

He graduated at the University of Padua in 2004. In 2009, at the same University, he obtained a degree in Medieval and Late Antiquity Archaeology at the Specialisation School in Archaeology. 

Paolo completed his PHD in Archaeology at the University of Trento in Italy in 2012, discussing a thesis on the medieval landscapes of Eastern Trentino. In his research, he examined the evolution of settlement patterns and land use, including the analysis of field systems, by combining remote sensing analyses (i.e. Lidar and IR imagery), field research, reviews of old archaeological data and the study of medieval documents. Hereafter, Paolo was awarded of a postdoctoral grant from the Université of Franche-Comté (Besançon, France) to study the medieval landscapes surrounding the city of Besançon. He undertook this research at the Maison des Science de l’Homme et de l’Environnement ‘Claude Nicolas Ledoux’ in 2013.

In April 2014, Paolo started a Marie Curie Fellowship in Medieval Archaeology at Durham University, under the supervision of Prof. Chris Gerrard (Durham) and Prof. Dave Petley (Sheffield). His research project was called ArMedEa (http://armedea.wordpress.com/), the acronym for Archaeology of Medieval Earthquakes in Europe (1000-1550 AD). The core aim of this project was to better understand earthquake events in Europe in the Middle Ages using archaeological data. Since 2017 he is working on the RiskRes project (Risk and Resilience: exploring responses to historic earthquakes, 1200-1755) as a research associate. 

In Italy, Paolo led several excavations in medieval sites. He also conducted fieldwork in seismically-affected sites in Portugal, Spain and Cyprus. 

Since 2012, he is also the curator for the constituting archaeological museum of Lamon (Italy). 

He is a member of the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience (IHRR) and the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (IMEMS). 

• Medieval Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Archaeoseismology
• Archaeology of Environmental Hazards
• Environmental Archaeology
• Remote sensing in Archaeology
• GIS in Archaeology

• Heritage Partnerships

• Medieval and post-medieval earthquakes in Europe

• Medieval and post-medieval earthquakes in Europe

• 2018: Dating an unrecorded medieval destructive earthquake: archaeological investigation at El Castillejo (Granada, Spain)(£8990.00 from The British Academy)

• 2014: Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (Venice): Award "A. Valcanover" for the best PhD Thesis (years 2012-2013) devoted to the analysis of the Mountain, in one of its ;aspects related to the environmental, natural, geological and forestal sciences.

Chapter in book

• Forlin, Paolo (2015). The periphery during the seventh century: the rise of a new landscape within the core of the Alps. Climate change, land use and the arrival of Lombards in the Eastern Trentino, Northern Italy (5th-7th century AD). In The long Seventh century. Continuity and discontinuity in an age of transformation. Gnasso, E. Intagliata, E. MacMaster, T. & Morris, B.N. Oxford: Peter Lang. 87-106.
• Forlin, P. (2013). Castelli della Valsugana, Val di Cembra e Altopiano di Pinè. Schede. (Castel Savaro; Castel Telvana; Rocca della Rocchetta; Castelnuovo; Castello di Grigno; Castello di Ivano; Torri quadre di Novledo; Castel Tesobbo; Torre Tonda di Marter; Castello Montebello; Castello di Strigno;Castello di Arnana; Castello di San Pietro; Castello di Belvedere; Castello di Caldonazzo; Castel Brenta; Castelbosco; Castello di Seregnano; Castel Telvana di Civezzano; Castel Vedro; Domus Murata di Barbaniga; Castello di Magnago; Castello di Fornace; Castel Selva; Castello di Levico; Castel Vecchio di Levico; Castello di Pergine; Castello di Roccabruna; Doss del Guardian; Colle Tegazzo; Castello di Vigolo; Castello di Bosentino; Castrum di Cimbra; Castrum di Fagitana; Castello di Giovo; Castello di Lisignago; Castello di Lases; Castello di Segonzano). In Castra, Castelli e Domus Murate, Corpus dei siti fortificati trentini tra tardo antico e basso medioevo. Schede 1. Apsat 4. Possenti, E., Gentilini, G., Cunaccia, M. & Landi, W. SAP, Mantova. 27-145.
• Forlin, P (2013). Castelli e paesaggi del Trentino orientale: alcuni casi studio dalla Valsugana e dalla Val di Cembra (Castles and landscapes in Eastern Trentino: some case studies from Valsugana and Val di Cembra, Trentino, Italy). In Castra, Castelli e Domus Murate, Corpus dei siti fortificati trentini tra tardo antico e basso medioevo. Saggi. Apsat 6. Possenti, E., Gentilini, G., Cunaccia M. & Landi W. SaP, Mantova. 299-309
• Forlin, P. (2013). Le chiuse della Valsugana. In Castra, Castelli e Domus Murate, Corpus dei siti fortificati trentini tra tardo antico e basso medioevo. Saggi. Apsat 6. Possenti, E., Gentilini, G., Cunaccia, M. & Landi, W. SAP, Mantova. 61-72.
• Colecchia, A. & Forlin, P. (2012). Visibilità e interpretazione del record archeologico in aree d'altura. Le potenzialità dell'analisi del LiDAR DTM. In Paesaggi d'altura del Trentino: evoluzione naturale e aspetti culturali. Apsat 2. Angelucci D.E, CASAGRANDE, L. COLECCHIA, A. & ROTTOLI M. SAP, Mantova. 41-60.

Conference Paper

• Forlin, P., Gerrard, C. M. & Petley, D. (2015), ArMedEa project: archaeology of medieval earthquakes in Europe (1000-1550 AD). First research activities, in Blumetti, A.M., Cinti, F., De Martini, P., Galadini, F., Guerrieri, L., Michetti, A.M., Pantosti, D. & Vittori, E. eds, 6th International Inqua Meeting on Paleoseismology, Active Tectonics and Archaeoseismology. Pescina, Italy, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, 166-169.

Conference Proceeding

• Brogiolo, G.P. & Forlin, P. (2012). L’area archeologica di via Neroniana. Nota preliminare sulle fasi medievali, (Montegrotto Terme, via Neroniana). Aquae Patavinae. Il termalismo antico nel comprensorio euganeo e in Italia. Atti del I Convegno Nazionale (Padova, 21-22 giugno 2010), Antenor Quaderni 21, Padova.

Doctoral Thesis

• Forlin, P. (2012). Remote Sensing Analysis e Archeologia dei paesaggi nel Trentino orientale. La Valsugana, la Val di Cembra e l’Altopiano di Pinè tra l’età tardoantica e il medioevo, Mantova (Remote Sensing Analysis and landscape archaeology in the Eastern Trentino: Valsugana Valley, Cembra Valley and Pinè plateau during the Late Antiquity and the Middle Age). University of Trento (Italy). PhD.

Journal Article

• Forlin, Paolo, Valente, Riccardo & Kázmér, Miklós (2018). Assessing earthquake effects on archaeological sites: the employment of photogrammetry and 3D model analysis. Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage 9: e00073.
• Forlin, P. & Gerrard, C. M. (2017). The archaeology of earthquakes: The application of adaptive cycles to seismically-affected communities in late medieval Europe. Quaternary International 446: 95-108.
• Forlin, P., Gerrard, C. M. & Petley, D. (2016). Exploring representativeness and reliability for late medieval earthquakes in Europe. Natural Hazards 84(3): 1625-1636.
• Forlin, P (2012). Airborne LiDAR data analysis within the Alpine landscapes of Trentino:
 a methodological approach. PCA (Post-Classical Archaeologies) 2: 247-268.
• Challis, K., Forlin, P. & Kincey, M. (2011). A Generic Toolkit for the Visualization of Archaeological Features on Airborne LiDAR Elevation Data. Archaeological Prospection 18(4): 279.

Report

• (2016). Fieldwork in “El Castillejo” 2015 Survey Report.
• Forlin, P., Gerrard, C., Gutiérrez, A., Teixeira, A., Freude, M. & Petley, D. (2015). Vila Franca do Campo, Saõ Miguel, Azores. 2015 Fieldwork Short Report. Department of Archaeology.